January 12, 2011

The Naked Truth About Starbucks

By now, you've probably heard that Starbucks has rolled out their "new" logo. This looks to me like the story of the Emperor Has No Clothes. Someone has convinced Mr. Schultz to invest a lot of money for an image that looks and feels exactly like the one he started with.

The first time I viewed the new logo I did a double click to ensure I was on the right page. Yep! No mistake there. It was then that I noticed the Starbucks name no longer appeared on the logo. Someone needs to let Mr. Schultz know that Starbucks is no Cheers. It's not a place where everyone knows your name. Consider the following scenario. A shopper is dashing through the supermarket and arrives at the coffee aisle, which is overflowing with packages of coffee. Those that are not card-carrying members of the Starbucks club may very well miss the connection without the Starbucks name on the package.

Having just gone through a rebranding of my own firm, I get the fact that you need to update your image every now and again. I also understand the investment needed to carry out this change. But what if in the end, you came up with something that is no better than what you had? In fact, it's worse.

I'm thinking the people at Starbucks are inhaling their own coffee vapors. No one has the guts to stop the coffee presses and say, "Hey, this doesn't make sense. What if we put this money into improving our service levels?" And dare I add, coffee.

I recall the time when Starbucks closed all their locations for a day in order to provide associates with training. I stopped in the next day for a cup of coffee and couldn't help but notice how the service had deteriorated. This is after a day of training. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a barista for that matter to know that a day of training without ongoing support is just that.

So if any of you personally know Mr. Schultz, please relay this message. It's time to surround yourself with people who aren't afraid of getting fired for disagreeing with you. In fact, this is exactly what you need to expand the Starbucks brand. Call me ... we'll talk over a cup of coffee.